A heavy pall of grief hung over Crans-Montana on Sunday as more than a thousand mourners walked in silence through the Swiss ski resort to remember those killed and injured in a horrific New Year’s Eve fire.

A total of 40 people died in the tragic blaze at Le Constellation. The bar’s owners are under criminal investigation.

A mass dedicated to the victims was held at a small chapel some 300 metres down the road from the gutted bar, outside which well-wishers have left an abundance of flowers, candles and messages of sympathy.

“Many of the victims were apprentices, high school students, and university students,” said Pastor Gilles Cavin, representing the Protestant Reformed Church of Switzerland.

“In the face of the unspeakable, in the face of the brutality of death and suffering, we refuse to look away. We are here to express our compassion, our solidarity.”